Gingerism

The Sun reports a 35 year old mother from Nottingham having been subjected to retrospective gingerism, three decades on from being bullied at school for the her ginger hair.

Natalie Harvey was targeted by cyber trolls on her Facebook and Twitter accounts, having posted a picture of herself as a child, which began circulating on the internet. Tweets included threats to “pull off your wig and reveal your ginger afro hair to everyone”. Mrs Harvey subsequently contacted police, with one online troll being issued a formal warning.

Mrs Harvey had experienced verbal and physical bullying as a result of her hair colour from the age of five, and upon leaving school used a variety of means to “control” her curled ginger locks, included straightening, dying and use of chemical treatment, before settling on a variety of wigs, with which she is pictured in present day photographs.

She told The Sun that the stress of the bullying impacted on her physical health, and has appealed for an increase in online security to tackle cyber bullying.

According to the article www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/9507952.Beaten_up_for_having_ginger_hair/ featured in the Daily Echo, redhead James Prior was randomly assaulted by 19-year-old Miguel Costa from Glengarry, New Milton. Costa’s co-conspirator was 22-year-old Robert Knapper from Hawthorn Close (also from New Milton).

On Maryatt Road, Prior was near his residence trying to find the paper. Meanwhile, gingeristic utterances were directed at Prior in the vehicle from which Costa and Knapper sat. “Prosecutor Mary Aspinall-Miles described how Costa started hurling abuse from the car at Mr. Prior based on the colour of his hair.”

Costa began punching Prior and had also bitten him in the face. Mr. Prior tried to exit the situation. “Mr. Prior put his palms up as if to calm him (Costa) down, and starting backing away at this point. He had no idea why he was being attacked. It appeared that it was simply because of the fact he had ginger-coloured hair.”

According to the Southampton Crown Court, Costa didn’t recall much of the encounter due to intoxication. Knapper accompanied Costa in the assault believing that he (Prior) and Costa were acquainted. Both men will be imprisoned for their actions.

Several days ago, an article was published concerning 12-year-old Tyler Walsh’s tribulations at Yate International Academy in Bristol. Tyler is no stranger to gingerism. His mum Emma is unduly aware of it as well. The article www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4082436/Boy-is-taught-on-his-own-for-being-GINGER.html states that the school told Ms. Walsh it would be best for him to be taught in another setting away from the other students. She received this advice after her son had been cornered and harassed in the restroom by 10 other students.

Tyler has been bullied on more than one occasion since the start of his attendance at Yate International. His mum says the police were summoned following an altercation on the street. Tyler was kicked and punched in the abdomen. He has also been taunted in the hallways and has had his bagged lunch thrown out of reach during mealtime.

The school mentioned placing Tyler in an inclusion classroom to help him avoid run-ins with bullies. Ms. Walsh suggested having his schoolwork sent until he could begin at a new school. The academy denied her request because to do so (in their opinion) would mean abetting Tyler's absence.

Ms. Walsh is appalled at the treatment she and her son have received.

"Tyler is effectively being bullied out of school for being red-headed.”

"Yate International Academy has punished one boy, when a whole group were involved. I think it is absolutely disgusting."

Columnist Kristen Tillotson mentions that it’s not easy being redheaded in her article: articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-01-10/features/sc-fam-0110-redheads-20120110_1_redheads-red-hair-hair-color

Whether it's for good reasons or bad, there are plenty of times we seem to be reminded of our unique red tresses even as adults. Patti Stanger is the producer of a programme called Millionaire Matchmaker (on the Bravo cable television network) who has disparaging comments for redheads.

The social networking site Facebook currently has a page called "We Are the 2 Percent,” which is suggested to be aimed at Stanger. Erin Roche is the campaign initiator. She writes that the bigotry toward redheads is often mocked and ignored. Roche also says that gingerism is a tolerated form of prejudice.

In September of the preceding year, the largest sperm bank in the world (Cryos in Denmark) decided to prohibit any prospective donors whom have red hair. The clinic’s staff stresses no deliberate ill intent and asserts there just isn’t much of a demand.

Tillotson says some redheads find happiness and humour despite the behaviors some may encounter on a regular basis. Tim and Beth Robertson are mum and dad to four children, all of whom have red hair. Tim’s hair is auburn and his wife has strawberry blonde tresses. For the Robertson family, red hair is a commonality. They do claim to use more sunscreen than others.

Another fellow redhead, Ric Fohrman is 51-year-old car dealer and misses his hair-which he is starting to lose. Fohrman recollects that life at age 5 was difficult because of the teasing. However, as an adult he's enjoyed his red hair because people remember him more easily. He says being unknown is impossible for anyone with red locks.

At the conclusion of her article, Tillotson writes of several prominent redheads from the past and present.

The late actress and comedienne Lucille Ball believed that R